Amanda + Patrick Catholic New York wedding

Amanda & Patrick wed in the extravagant location of St. Louis Roman Catholic Church in New York. Boasting the longest aisle in the city, Amanda made quite the impact on her entrance. Even though their day was full of rain, it was filled with even more love and laughter. The weather cleared up after the ceremony, revealing clear blue skies- perfectly finishing off their Hollywood style wedding which featured classic colours of greens, golds and navies. This particular date held special sentiment as it was the same day Amanda's grandparents got married. The couple and their guests danced the night away in The Terrace Room which is part of the historic Stalier building, featuring stunning black and white tiled floors which added incredible drama to this romantic affair.

Background

How did you meet your partner? Our best friends were dating, and they decided that Pat had to be part of our friend group. I wasn’t interested in being set-up with anyone, but by the second time we met I was already done for. I left two months later to study abroad in London, which could have been the end. Instead, Pat booked a flight to visit me and things just kept getting better.

How long have you been together? 9 years

Do you have a proposal story? Every year, we go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a week. Pat decided we were going to rent a car and drive to Key West for a few days. I was so happy to relax, that I kept pushing off our plans to go see the Ernest Hemingway house for more pool time reading. When I finally was ready to move, I dragged us to lunch, forced Key Lime Pie on him (famous in Key West!) and wanted to walk around and explore more. He had called ahead to make sure the lighthouse there was empty, so he finally said we needed to get there to see it before it closed for the afternoon. It took me awhile to get to the top, and as soon as I walked out onto the terrace, he got down on one knee. I was so excited I knocked the ring out of his hand! We watched the sunset at Mallory Square and spent the night celebrating. It was so special being away and spending the whole time relishing the moment and then celebrating with friends and family the next week when we got home.

What made you choose there? St. Louis is an absolutely breathtaking church. There is a Kimball Organ on the balcony and the in-house organist is incredible. It also has the longest aisle in the city, and after dating eight years, I wanted to make sure I got to have a full-on bride moment.

What made you choose there? I had a very specific vision of what I wanted our venue to look like. The Terrace Room is classic, with black & white tiled floors and beautiful mirrors.

How did you find it? The Statler is a well-known historic building in Buffalo. We had been to a few weddings and other events in the Golden Ballroom there.

How was the weather on the day? From the second I woke up - rain, rain, rain. I think it was the only rain that we had since May. We did luck out and have clear skies before and after the ceremony, which allowed us to get photos outside of the church.

Was there a reason you decided to get married on this date? My grandparents were married on the same date.

The Wedding Details

Theme? Once I had chosen my dress, I used that style to settle on a theme. I wanted everything to look streamlined with a little bit of an old Hollywood feel. My biggest focus was choosing a look that would not be outdated in ten years. Greens, golds and navy were the colours I selected. We put a runner of greens on the captains table, with some gold décor mixed in.

Where did you draw your inspiration/ideas from? My maid of honor got me a subscription to Brides magazine immediately after we got engaged. I flipped through for colour and floral ideas and tore out pages of table settings.

Were any aspects of your wedding D.I.Y? If so What? I might be the only bride to ever say this, but I tried to stay away from Pinterest. There are so many ideas out there that it can get overwhelming. Our one project was the place card display. The centrepieces were tall gold vases with a big tuft of babies breath and I wanted to tie that into the place card table. We (I should say my mom and aunts) layered flora l foam in several trays and placed babies breath on top, setting the place cards on the bed of flowers. I also love Pablo Neruda’s poetry. There was a sonnet that I wanted to use as a reading during our ceremony but was unable to, as we had a Catholic mass. Instead, I used a computer application to type out different lines from his work and framed them for the place card table, dessert table, and a few other places.

What made you decide to come into Karen Willis Holmes? In the end, the 'Prea/Blake' dress was what I built my whole wedding on. I tried on only four dresses and was torn between 'Blake/Prea' and another dress of a completely different style. Where 'Blake/Prea' is clean, simple and structured, the other gown was whimsical and flowing (and PINK). My mother-in-law’s wise words were, this pink dress is who you used to be when we met you eight years ago, but the 'Blake/Prea' dress is exactly who you are now.

Where have you seen our gowns (if at all) before? I had not until I tried it on!

How many gowns did you try? 4

Where did you purchase your gown from (which store or stockist)?Lovely Bride Rochester. Lovely Bride is doing it right! The store is beautiful and elegant, and every dress is beautiful and unique.

What did you especially like about your gown? I loved the corset style top and the shape of the skirt. The train was so beautiful and it took on a whole different scalloped shape that I loved once it was bustled. I also loved the material. I always pictured myself in a dress with a huge skirt, but this dress changed that as soon as I put it on.

What accessories did you choose to finish your gown and also for those in your bridal party? The Odette belt by Untamed Petals, a pair of crystal Kate Spade drop earrings, and a silver Tiffany &Co. bracelet Pat gave me as a gift years ago (old and blue!). The bridal party kept their accessories very simple, because the dress had an overlay that allowed for different styles.

Did you wear a veil/headpiece? Where did you get this from? I wore a cathedral veil from Lovely Bride

​

Other

What advice would you give brides organizing their wedding? It is SO easy to get completely lost in the details. If you find something you love, whether it’s as small as the table numbers, or as huge as the dress, stop looking! You will always second guess yourself if you keep looking. You know what your style is, stay true to it so that when you look back on your wedding, you know it was a reflection of you (and your husband!).

What advice would you give brides searching for their wedding gown? Same thing goes. If you feel like your most beautiful self in a dress, and it makes you cry, then make your decision and don’t look back. Spend a lot of time looking at styles in magazines before you go shopping, and let the stylist bring you a dress or two you might not have picked for yourself.

Anything extra that is special or you would like to share about your big day. Dads are just the best. My dad and I spent weeks wondering how we were going to get down the aisle without blubbering. Right before the doors opened, he pulled a puppet out from behind his back. It was the perfect little distraction for us, and we kept it together! My father-in-law wrote a song and played it during our ceremony. This was a complete surprise to us, and was beautiful!

Photographer – Katie Africano, Moonshine Studio of Photography. Katie is a client of mine, and it was so helpful to have someone we were comfortable with take our photos. Looking at the photos in sequence, it perfectly captured the entire day, from the small moments to the big ones.

Videographer – Jason Holler, Holler Media Productions. We hadn’t hired a videographer, but when I got out of the limo, I saw that my dad had hired my cousin to shoot the wedding ceremony. Such a great surprise!

Music – Joy Ryde and the Hitmen Horns. My biggest request for our wedding was a live band. They had EVERYONE out on the dance floor and had a blast doing it.

First Dance – Can’t Take My Eyes off You

Celebrant – Father Joe Gato. Father Joe was the priest at my aunt & uncle’s wedding 30 years ago. He was so interactive at the ceremony and it became my favourite part of the whole day.

Cake – Marsha Fortman. We tasted about 15 different variations, all so delicious, but went with a 'white' cake with almond buttercream. We had it at a friend’s wedding and I talked about it for weeks.

Bombonieres – Since indoor cycling is such a huge part of my life, our favours were the cutest little bicycle bottle openers.

Hair & Make-Up –Studio 806. In the words of my hairdresser, 'I hear you're obsessed with me?' I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to do my makeup for the big day. Just like our photographer, Emma is a client and I’ve always been 100% comfortable with her.

Wedding Bands – Scherer’s Jewelers. They’re a family-owned business that has been around for over a hundred years. My engagement ring has my husband’s grandmother’s diamond in it, and he had the ring designed there. One of the most special things was coming home from our trip when we got engaged and showing his grandmother the ring! Naturally, we went there for our bands as well, I got a band that matches my engagement ring, as well as a really unique marquis and circle cut band.